Defiance
by whyette-h
Summary: Aikoka is kidnapped by a group of rebels. Sakaratte embarks on an adventure to find her lover. (I know, it sounds cheesy, but please read it!)
1. Chapter One

Her small hands gripped the sword tightly as it slipped through her grasp from the building perspiration. He swung again. She ducked, just missing the shiny blade whizzing past her head. She saw the opening and took it. Her own gleaming blade swung toward his legs, crippling him with the blow. Impa rushed to his side and healing his legs, relieving him of the throbbing pain of a broken knee cap. Link stood, shook his legs, and looked at his youn "niece."

"Your lucky I went easy on you," he said uneasily. "You could have been the one with the broken knee caps."

"Right," Zelda scoffed, "You broke a sweat. I know you only break sweats in challenging battles, you know, the ones that you almost lose?"

"No," Link said, and stuck out his tongue at his young wife. "You just haven't seen me- . . . . Oh . . . wait . . . damn!"

"Would you like me to finish your phrase? I believe it would have been along the lines of: 'You havent seen me in action.' But, if you recall, I was there," she said, quoting him with extreme sarcasm. Sakaratte looked between the adults and wondered what the hell they were talking about.

Impa laughed, "You two know each other _way _too well." Link frowned, but zelda wrapped her arms around his thick neck. He smiled.

"Can I go now?" Sakaratte asked. "Mom's probably waiting for me at home." Link nodded. She mounted her horse and galloped out of the court.

"I'll make sure she gets home safely," Impa said sullenly. "I'm still not sure she can take care of herself." Impa galloped off after the girl.

Impa quickly caught up, having little to no trouble getting up enough speed to ride beside the galloping young girl. They made their way back to the forest, where, at the entrance to it, they stopped and said their temporary farewells.

"Go straight home!" Impa said like the old person that she seemed to be to Sakaratte. Even though the King himself was frightened in her presence.

"Fine," Sakaratte said as she turned her horse around to face Impa.

"And no stopping at Aikoka's house either!" the graying lady said.

"Yes ma'am, I promise I won't run off into the Lost Woods at midnight looking for some evil thing to slay, or sneak into Aikoka's house to . . . well, I'll leave the last part up to your imagination!" Sakaratte said and galloped off into the forest.

She was planning to go straight home. She stabled her horse at one of the posts set up at the entrance to the village. She started toward her home to the east.

She walked past the small houses of her neighbors occasionally smiling at a random person standing outside their home, finishing up their daily chores. She continued past Link's old, considerably smaller, home. She was almost within spitting distance of her own home when she felt a small pressure on te back of her head. She looked around, but decided to continue. Again, she felt a small pressure on her head. She looked aruond, but decided to continue. Yet again, the pressure came, but this time it hurt a little bit. She turned around and spotted Aikoka hanging out of his window with a handful of rocks. She smiled and waved to him, then picked up a pebble and chucked it.

"Ow!" Aikoka yelled, "That hurt!"

"Serves you right, Aikoka!" Sakaratte smirked.

"Can you come in?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to say of course, but then remembered Impa's words and shuddered. "Umm . . . no, I promised Impa I'd go straight home."

"Can you at least check with Saria?" he asked hoping.

"I'd probably have more luck just coming in, but Impa's patience should not be tested," she said. Aikoka's face turned sad, she couldn't stand to see him sad. "Fine, I'll try mom. Cross your fingers for me!" He held his finger sup as she ran down the road. She sped down the walkway to their small tree house. She practically skipped rungs in the ladder and inevitably ran right into the closed door. Saria opened the door a few seconds later to find her daughter standing there rubbing her head.

"You okay?" Saria asked.

Sakaratte nodded and remembered why she sacrificed her body, "Oh! Can I go over to Aikoka's place?"

"Fine . . . but be back soon, or are you staying for supper?"

"Probably, but I'll sprint back and tell you if I am." Sakaratte replied.

"Fine, just try ot to hit the door next time, youcoud have put a dent In it," Saria scolded sarcastically.

"It's always nice to know that I'm loved," the excited girl said even more sarcatically than her sage mother.

"See you soon!" Saria yelled as Sakartte sped down the ladder. She missed a rung in the ladder and, yet again, felt the consequences of speeding.

The two sat down at the small table opposite of each other.

"So, how was your lesson with Link?" Aikoak asked , smiling.

"Fine, I really managed to do some damage today. I broke his knee caps!!" she said excitedly.

"Good thing he's got realtives that can heal easily. Are you going back tomorrow?"

"I think so," I told Impa I would . . . but I think I might give Link a day off."

"Good, I was hoping we could go into the market tomorrow morning. After that, I was planning on maybe going to swim with the Zora's in the lake," he said.

"Sounds like fun!"

"I'm hoping it will be," he said mischeviously.

"Can I stay for dinner?" she asked, thinking of his wonderful cooking.

"Sure, do you need to tell Saria?" he asked.

"Umm . . . yeah, want to walk me?"

"Fine," he said, "if your that scared.

"Scared! Hah!" she laughed. "I'm not the one that won't even go to the market by themselves!"

"Enough already! I'll go with you, but only because I don't want to sit here waiting by myself," he said.

"So you don't want to be alone?" she persisted. "I think you are scared!"

"Let's just go now, so neither of us will have to be fearing Saria's wrath," he said.

"Eh, mom's wrath isn't all that bad, but Impa-"

"Yes, yes, Impa has a nasty temper, she isn't to be crossed. She'll throw fireballs at my head. Blah, blah, blah. I hear it all the time! Let's go! I want to be back before our dinner is finished cooking. You don't want burned cucoo do you?" He didn't even wait for an answer. He pushed her through the door and closed it behind him.

Making it down the ladder safely, they walked toward the largest house in the town. They approached the ladder and Sakaratte made a mental note to herself not to go quite as fast as she did the previous time. Aikoka leaned on the trunk of the tree as Sakaratte opened the door. A pleasant aroma wafted out of it and the girl was immediately hungry.

"Can I stay at Aikoka's for supper?" she asked.

"Fine. Why didn't you knock this time? I could gotten used to that!" she said sarcastically.

"I decided that I should save my body for better activities than using the whole thing to knock on the door," Sakaratte replied.

"Ah, anyway, be home soon . . . unless you're staying the night there?" Saria asked.

"Can I!?" she asked.

"It's fine with me, you might want to make sure it's okay with him though."

"It is . . .. he . . . uh . . . he already asked me. I wasn't going to bother asking and just come home, but since you offered, sure!"

"Sakaratte turned and ran for the door. Managed to get through the door unhurt, but the way down was a rough landing.

"You okay?" Aikoka asked. By that time she had already gotten to her ffeet, appearing to be unscathed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mom says I can stay for dinner. I can spend the night too if it's okay with you." She asked with the biggest please, please, please, please look on her face.

"Of course you can."

A.N.- How'd ya like it? Read the next one! What will happen at this "sleepover?" Does Aikoka have something planned, or is Sakaratte who is the naughty one? Find out next time!!! (Oi!! Ths sounds like a really bad action cartoon.) Anyway! R&R!!!!

A.N.2- This is another edited version. W00t!!! w00t!!!!


	2. Chapter Two

Sakaratte smiled at him as he walked toward her, beaming back at her. He joined her at her seat by the crackling fire. Aikoka listened intesively to every word she breathed and concentrated on the shadows that the fire cast along the fine curves of her gentle face. He found himself drifting away from the conversation and instead immersed in the gentle glow that filled his home and made the person that he cared most about even more beautiful than her usual radiance.

"What do you think Aikoka?....Aikoka?" Sakaratte asked, realizing that he had entered a slight stupor, "What the hell are you staring at?"

"Oh! Oh, sorry, it's just the fire light, it's casting these-these...these shadows. I was listnening at first, but I was distracted," he said dazily as he recovered from the state of near-unconciousness.

"By what?" she pondered, "Am I really that boring? Boring enough that you'd rather sit and stare at shadows on the wall?"

"No, not the shadows on the wall, I was watching the shadows accenting your face." He explained, finding himself staring at her soft visage.

"I hate to disturb your staring, but why don't we move outside? I'm getting bored of talking to myself, and it's hot in here," She said, annoyed. She stopped in the doorway that led to the balcony that encircled his small home. From the balcony you could see most of the small village that they called home. She spun around on her heel and gazed at him, he was still staring at the fire.

"Are you coming?" She asked, he turned to look at her. She had leaned against the door frame and was glaring at him through curious eyes.

His face finally snapped back into reality as he turned to look at the only thing that he could think of when not with her, but when he is actually talking to her, he can be easily distracted. It was hard of course, for they both were quite different than the rest of the village. Height was the most apparant, but the one thing that set them apart the most apparent, was the lack of a fairy. Neither of them had been given one at birth. Sakaratte had the oppurtunity, but Aikoka was not given that oppurtunity.

They managed however, being each other's fairies, watching out for the other. They constanly found themselves together, not speaking, just enjoying the company of the other.

Aikoka managed to drag himself from his spot near the hearth. She took his hand and led him outside onto the moonlit haven of the balcony.

Aikoka walked ahead of her and pulled her to a part of the balcony where you could see Hyrule Castle through the tree branches. He pulled her into a gentle kiss, lasting only a few seconds. Aikoka pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. They gazed out across the landscape of the Hylian countryside, basking in it's beauty.

Aikoka pulled her in to a deep, passionate kiss. She moved her hand up to run her fingers through his thick, brown hair. He pulled away and smiled sweetly at her. She smiled back. Sakaratte took his hand into hers and they sat there like that until they both faded into a dreamless sleep.

Sakaratte woke to the soft sound of a fire a the bubbling of water in a pot above it's flames. It took her eyes a few seconds to focus on what she realized was Aikoka fixing a breakfast for two. He glanced up and saw her sitting there watching him.

"Ah, good, your awake," he commented and mumbled something that sounded like "finally". He watched her get up and stretch, then returned to his chore of preparing the meal.

"What are we having?" she inquired.

"Do you always think about food?" he said.

"Yes...yes I do."

"We're having a breakfast stew," he said nodding his head toward the boiling water.

"And what, if you don't mind, is in the stew," She asked sarcastically.

"Just some cocco meat and some random vegetables."

She walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She ran her fingers across his stomach. He smiled, but continued to prepare the meal. Giving up, she went and sat on the floor by the fire place.

They enjoyed a delicious breakfast and started toward the market. Aikoka stopped into a fishing store to buy some extra bait for their trip to Hyrule Lake. Sakaratte, however, stopped and bought them a few sandwiches just in case. (She had seen Aikoka fish before and he hardly ever caught anything.)

They set out towards the lake on Aikoka's horse. Sakaratte sat behind him and hugged his mid-section. They arrived to find the lake filled to the brim with other couples and a few Zoras. par

"So much for the fishing," Sakaratte said.

"Why, I see there are some really big fish out there right now," Aikoka commented sarcastically.Sakaratte didn't hear anything past "Why", however, she was already off toward the lake. A few moments later she dived into the deep lake and joined the other beings in the lake. She surfaced another few moments later and looked toward Aikoka. She motioned for him to follow her into the lake.

He joined her after shedding his shirt dived into the lake and joined her. (She had, of course, stripped down to a set of swimming clothes.) He pulled her towards him and she put her hands upon his chest. It took them a few seconds to coordinate kicking their feet so they could stay affloat.

Heads turned at the young couple, for it wasn't common to see people in close relation to the king and queen swimming in Lake Hylia with the "serfs" of the Hylian society. Sakaratte and Aikoka didn't seem to notice it at all however, and kept to themselves. Eventually they moved to a shallower part of the lake and talked for hours.

Silence.

The lake had cleared. All of the people had left, they were alone. A sparring practice dummy sat on the north shore of the lake. They moved themselves to the small island in the middle of the lake, where they began to eat the meal Sakaratte had bought them in the market.

They ate the small meal and sat watching the water wash up on to the shore. Even the Zoras had returned to the their watery home. The only thing even resembling a human was a practice dummy on the north shore that was left there by some fool.

"Let's go swimming," Sakaratte insisted, "The water might be a little cool, but I think we can deal with it." She said this as she faced him and wrapped her thin arms around his waist.

"I think I'll just stay here and join you in a few," he said smiling.

She grumbled a quick "fine" and ran off toward the water. A second later she had dived into the water and the cold water surrounded her body. The world under the surface of Hylia Lake had always amazed her. She gazed at it's emptiness. No fish swam tonight, when usually at this time the lake would be full to the brim with carp and roaches. She swam to the bottom and then surfaced again. Aikoka had moved to the north shore and was pounding away on the practice dummy. His chest gleaming with sweat as he kicked and punched the dummy.

Aikoka delivered a swift kick to the dummies head and it upset itself onto the ground. Aikoka looked exhausted, he seemed to be giving his all in recent practices that she had seen. Sakaratte stared at him, amazed. He was everything she had been wanting. After her father was killed by the rogue group of bandits and rebels she felt abandoned by her human side. Her mother (, as a sage) gave birth to her miraculously despite the history of the Kokiri people. Sakaratte's father, a common-born Hylian man, met Saria when he was taking a delivery from Link to her in the forest.

She moved herself to the island and sat underneath the tree to watch him practice.

Sakaratte turned her thoughts again to Aikoka, the one human in the history of Kokiri Village, besides Link, to live there. He was put under the care of the forest people afterhe was abandoned at the entrance to the Lost Woods years before, when he was only six or seven. He looked like he was of Hylian and Gerudo ancestry. She looked at him, his dark skin was the thing that made it obvious of his Gerudo relations. He had never spoken to anyone about life before the forest however, and that status wasn't going to change any time soon.

_Thump_

Sakaratte looked up. Aikoka had fallen to the ground. He looked to be unconcious. Panicing, she dived into the water, wanting to get to him as quick as she could to make sure he was okay. She swam through the murky waters of the lake as something grabbed her leg. She flailed and tried to swim to the surface. She failed miserably and soon found her self losing conciousness herself. She drifed off, down to the depths of Hyrule lake.

Aikoka woke a few seconds later and realized what had happened. Everyone leaving, the silence, someone was coming for them. He looked at the island and around the lake, Sakaratte was nowhere to be seen

A man emerged, dragging what seemed to be a woman's body. Aikoka ran as fast, and as silently, as he could towards them. Aikoka saw a pile of weapons and armor to his left and remembered a lesson of battle from his past.

Aikoka grabbed a knife from the pile of assorted weaponry and walked silently toward the man, who had managed to sit on the woman's stomach and arouse her from unconciousness. It became clear to Aikoka then that the girl was Sakaratte. The man pulled a knife from his thigh. He held it above her neck.

Sakaratte looked up, into the eyes of her abductor. par

He stared back, eyes filled with fury and hate, "I see you've awakened. Good. I like finishing the job myself." He moved to cut her throat. Sakaratte managed to free an arm and swing her arm to block. The knife cut deeply into her right arm. Her arm became soaked with blood in a matter of seconds.

Aikoak gave up on the silence and ran full out toward him, and drove the knife deeply into the back of the attacker. The man fell on top of Sakaratte, covering her face. Aikoka pulled the corpse off of her and looked into the face of him. He was a man from the desert, evident from his tanned skin. Aikoka froze, he recognized him. It was a faint memory, but became very destinct as he gazed into the eyes of this ruthless man.


	3. Chapter Three

A.N. Hey everyone, enjoy the next chatper. Am I going to fast with the plot? Tell me, and maybe I'll rewrite the chapters or something. Anyway, tell me what you think. Enjoy!!

* * *

Impa startled from a slumber that she had accidentally slipped into while sitting beside her favorite "thinking tree." A horse had galloped by her leaving a cloud of dust in the air. She assumed it was just Link chasing some thing, like his shadow, but soon she heard louds screams and yells coming from the other side of the walls. She got up to her feet nimbly and headed for the direction that the yells and screems were drifting from. She easily found her way to where the horsemen had ridden, a trail of blood had soaked into the soft soil beside the tree. She followed the path onto the cobblestone where it had already begun to stain the material.

The blood trail led to the castle, and of course, to Impa's annoyance, the blood trail continued through the tile floored hallways. She followed the red dots and occasional smears to her own room, where, when she arrived there, the mischevious boy Aikoka was laying Saria's

Sakaratte was limp, and it was apparent that she was the one that had been bleeding. Aikoka stood there above her, helpless to help her in any way, his pants soaked through with blood. (He wasn't wearing a shirt, he had used that to fashion a turnequette for Sakaratte's arm.)

"Goddesses!" Impa exclamed, "What happened."

"He hit me over the head with a rock! H-he attacked her. He t-tried to kill her. I had to. I had no choice," he stuttered.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Impa inquired, "Calm down and tell me what happened. Slowly now."

"We were at the lake. I was beating up on this practice dummy on the shore of the lake. He must of hit me on the head with a rock while I was resting. When I woke up I saw that-that man dragging her limp body out of the lake. I was afraid that she was already dead. But he sat on her stomach and took out a knife. I grabbed a knife out of the pile of weapons he had taken off for stealth. It's an old trick, very basic. He went to slit her throat after saying something. She knocked his hand away and he cut her sword arm. I stabbed him in the spine, instant death. It's just that-that...." he trailed off, unable to continue.

"Just what?" She asked as she tended to Sakaratte's wound.

"I- I recognized him," he seemed to be confessing.

"What do you mean? Where did you know him from?"

"He was my caretaker," he said. Impa stopped and stared at him. "He was my caretaker before I was dropped off in the forest."

"Before you were dropped off in the forest. Were you abandoned by someone?"

"That man, the one who I- I killed. He was a member of a band of rebels. My father was the leader of the group, but he died in a raid when I was about four," Aikoka said.

"Wow," Impa managed, she was speechless, "So, what else can you tell me about the rebels? They obviously aren't satisfied with abandoning you. Did they do this for political reasons?"

"I don't know. I havn't had contact with anyone in that group for years now. Why? Did you think I was a spy for them or something? I'm not. I have very bad memories of my days before Hyrule," Aikoka managed to spit out. "I'm not sure if I should be telling you this."

"Don't worry. I've worked for the Royal Family since before her Highness was even born," Impa said, then muttered, "And why the hell did I just call her 'her Highness'?"

"Anyway, that man took care of me after my father passed away. He was Hylian, but hated the system of government here. He found my mother in the Gerudian Desert and they married soon after. A few years later they had me, their only child. Four years later it was just myself and my mother. But even she couldn't escape from them.

She tried to run after my father was killed, but they caught her. They didn't even have their equivalent of a 'trial', they just told us that she was going to be killed. I set her free. They were going to kill me as well, but my caretaker convinced them to just abandon me. He saved my life," he trailed off, painful memories rushing back to him.

"Sounds...tough," Impa said, making her best attempt to comfort him, "Why didn't you tell anyone this before?"

"I didn't want to hurt them, I had thought that they were doing the right thing. I've come to realize that they were completely wrong."

"Well, that was quite a story. I never imagined you had such an...eventful life before you time here in the realm of Hyrule," Impa said, still trying to be comforting.

"I was afraid I was going to lose her. There would have been a... void in my life is she would have, well-" Aikoka couldn't even bring himself to speek of her death.

Sakaratte finally held the sword again. Now she held it in her left hand however, for the injury left close to irrepairable damage to her sword arm. She again faced her "uncle" in a battle. He was going easy on her, and it killed her to know that. Her right arm was still in a sling, but she had protested Impa's insistence on more of a break. (Saria also did some nagging, but that was just as equally ignored.)

Link swung, his sword just missing the bottom of her feet when she jumped just above the blade. Aikoka watched the battle from the side of the practice yard. He gasped and winced with Saria each time the blade was swung in Sakaratte's direction. Aikoka had to shield his eyes when Link swung his sword at her right arm. Sakaratte managed to parry the attack and bring her sword quickly to his throught. Link dropped his sword at her command. Sakaratte had succeeded in beating Link...again.


	4. Chapter Four

Impa and Sakaratte sat watching Aikoka taking his bi-daily lesson from the director of stealth operations for Hyrule: one of the last remaining Sheikahs, Sheik. This mysterious man could walk on a gravel pathway in the sunlight wearing a cucco costume and you still wouldn't notice him. Sheik had a history with the Royal Family as well- he had taught Link many things during his quest for the Sages to lock the infamous Ganon in the Temple of Time.

Since the attack, Aikoka had shown a strange interest in stealth attacks. He had brought up the issue with Impa, who had taken time to watch the two, and arrange the lessons for him. Sakaratte would cringe as Sheik demonstrated the technique on her Aikoka. Impa watched, looking emotionless, but impressed on how quickly he was learning. Impa was glad Link didn't come to watch these lessons, for some of the techniques required Aikoka to put his hands in places that Link would rather not see him putting his hands on, despite the fact that Aikoka and Sakaratte remained clueless of the queens alternate personalities.

The lesson finished with Aikoka successfully flipping Sheik over his shoulder and slamming a knee onto the Sheikahs chest, Aikoka pinned his trainer's arms to his side.

"Ah," Sheik wheezed, "I see you've made some progress. But not enough. I'm afraid you have a way to go."

Aikoka looked at the trainer somewhat annoyed. He had, afterall, been trained in this as a boy, but those memories had long been blocked out. He remembered the basic stances and things like the "abandonment of weapons" tricks that his former caretaker had used.

Sheik quickly reversed the move on the boy as he was thinking. He lay on the ground, staring up at his trainer. "What the hell was that for?" he asked.

"I was just demonstrating how these moves can be easily reversed . . . especially when someone isn't paying attention to what they're doing."

"I see. . . well . . . umm . . . I was thinking . . . about . . . stuff!"

"Stuff, hmm, this stuff would be what," Sheik inquired.

"Well . . . I . . . uh . . . nothing important."

"Exactly," Sheik retorted sharply. "Nothing is important enough to draw your attention away from your training. You need to concentrate."

"Fine," Aikoka replied. "I'll practice the whole concentrating thing when I get home."

"Fine with me, as long as you're not 'concentrating' on Sakaratte, I doubt that the Queen would appreciate it."

"I'm not concerned with the queen. It's her faithful servant, Queen of the _Damned_ over there that I'm afraid of-"

"I heard that!" Impa screemed, forming a fireball in her right hand.

"See what I mean!? What kind of person makes fireballs, she's the devils wife . . . or

daughter . . . or somethin- EEEEK!!!!" Fire whizzed over his head as Aikoka hid behind Sheik.

"What are you doing hiding behind me? She'll think I'm protecting you or something. Then _I'll_ be the one with the fireballs aimed at my head," Sheik ran, just flat started running. Aikoka watched his slim body dissapear over the horizon. Aikoka's staring was suddenly interrupted by a sharp, burning pain on the back of his head. He smelt burning hair and flesh.

_Shit, now my head's on fire, _he thought, as he ran toward the river that ran through the Hyrulian country side. His head sizzled as the flames were extinguished by the cool rush of running water. He felt hands on his back, they pushed, and he fell straight into the river. _Good thing this isn't very fast, _he thought as he slowly drifted downstream toward the castle. He hopped out at the nearest bank and tried to dry off. It was no use, he was drenched, his shirt and pants sticking to his wet skin as he walked toward teh stable to recover his horse, who would not be happy either.

Sakaratte wiped him dry with the towel she had retrieved from a drawer. His shirt had long since been disposed of and was currently hanging on the banister of the balcony, his pants hanged. She had stood on the balcony as he stood off to the side of the door drying off his lower body and slipping into a new pair of pants. Impa had chased him down to the river and enjoyed pushing him as a final attack.

"Well, now we know why we don't talk about Impa so carelessly," Sakaratte said playfully. "You can only talk about her like that when she is, at least, out of hearing, sight, and smelling range. That woman could tell if you were talking about her by smell somehow. Trust me, she did it once to me. It was quite odd, actually."

"I'm sure, can I please put the shirt on now?" he asked. She had been drying him off for the last five minutes. "I think I'm dry."

"Oh . . . sorry, I . . . umm . . ."

"Don't worry, I was just a little cold."

"Ah, I just like the feel of your skin," she told him.

"And I, yours," he replied, stroking her cheek and leaning closer to whisper an I love you in her ear.

Sakaratte looked at him with awe, more than shock, filled her. She had felt those very words for a very long time, and now that they were said, by him, and not by her, she was overwhelme. She mouthed the words, she couldn't get herself to breathe, let alone talk. She drew him in to a long, passionate kiss, then moved her kisses to his neck. He moaned and pushed her head away from his neck.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know if I like where this is going right now. I just think . . . I don't know . . . that I- that we . . . shouldn't be moving this far. At least, not as far as I think we would've gone if I wouldn't have stopped us."

"Well . . . I suppose you'reright. This time. Can I stay here tonight again? I really enjoyed it the last time."

"Of course," he answered. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sakaratte smiled, and kissed him one more time. She released and ran through the door to tell Saria.

_"Our operative failed miserably," the man said, staring out of the window. "The boy killed him. I knew we should've killed the boy when we had the chance, but now we need him, damn Inspired."_

_"Yes, you should've, but that mistake can not be corrected," the other responded. "Consequences come as they may, but I am not the one to act them out. I was just the one they sent to finish the job, well, as I can now see, two jobs. They seem to be together constantly so killing them both shouldn't be to difficult. My observations have been brief, but the boy seem awefully clumsy sometimes. He managed to let the old woman push him into the river after he had managed to put out the fire on his head that she had started with a very impressive fireball."_

_"Will she be an obstacle?" the the other asked._

_"No, I should be able to handle her if the need arises. The trick seems to be a mere concentration of energy. Not unlike many of our techniques. The womanl seems to be of an unknown race, she looks like a Hylian, but upon closer inspection I found that to be quite wrong. I think she might be of the ancient Sheikahs. It would explain the fireballs."_

_"Yes, I suppose it would," the other commented. "The founders of our little group here were Sheikahs, and they incorporated many of their techniques into our style. Many of us are descendants of the Sheikah race as well- most of the leaders are pureblood Sheikahs, and the Inspired are descendants of the founders. That's why we want Aikoka. He is a full-blood Sheikah, and a future Inspired.A descendant of one of our ancient founders. We need his power. The girl can be killed, but we need him." _

_His voice had risen in pride and confidence throughout this speech. _

_"Very well, the girl will be disposed of. But I have to give my opinion, even though I'm not the one making the decision. Will he really trust you enough to lend you his power? Especially if you kill his lover?"_


	5. Chapter Five

_ "Have you made any progress?"_

_ "We are progressing today."  
"I see. All the preparations have been made?"_

_ "Of course. Everything and everyone is in place. All we need is confirmation from the Inspired."_

_ "They have already agreed."_

_ "I know, but they have to give the final order."_

_ "Well, are our sect leader is o_

_One of the Inspired."_

_ They looked at each other with nervous eyes. They were both fidgeting with something; nervous habits were you harboring one of the Inspired?"_

_ "Of course, rising to the surface._

_ "So, what's the plan?"_

_ "That, my friend, is something I can't tell you. The organization had authorized you, but I have specific orders from the Inspired not to tell anyone more than they need to know. I think you know all you need to, don't you?"_

_ "All I have to do is go and kidnap boy and girl right? My observations saw _

_ "What if they put up a fight? The boy has been training, with a Sheikah as that she never left his home last night, so it shouldn't be a problem. "Well. He might recognize some of our techniques."_

_ "He has not learned them yet. I can assure you of that. I can handle it, I promise you. At worst, I'll grab the girl and run-we can use her as bait. I know its clich' but it has never failed me in the past."_

_ "We are not concerned with cliché's here, so you have no reason to worry about that. Everything seems in order. I will notify the Inspired and then give the order. Get to your position."_

_ The officer went to the door to talk to the Inspired. "Good luck." _

_ "Thank you," the other said unemotionally. He would most likely have to kill . . . again._

"Sakaratte!" Saria yelled from the bottom of the stairs leading up to Aikoka's hut. "Sakaratte!"

Sakaratte came to the door of the house with a pair of sleeping pants and tunic. She looked like she had just woken up. "Yes, Mom?"

"When are you planning to be home? I was called to the palace. Link said that Queen Zelda was eager to see you for some reason."

"Saria?" Aikoka asked, arriving beside Sakaratte bearing nothing but a pair of sleeping shorts. "Is Sheik going to be there? I have some questions about my training."

"I wouldn't count on it." Saria said, using the easy mask she had learned to show when speaking about the Sheikah.

"Alright," he said.

"See you two there?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Sakaratte told her mother.

"Good," she said. "Oh, and Aikoka, please put some decent clothes on for this."

Aikoka managed a grunt and went back into the hut. A soft thud was heard as he plopped down onto his sleeping mat.

"See you later!" Sakaratte said.

Saria walked away, toward her and Sakaratte's home. Saria waved to a few citizens of the town as she walked to the small hut that she had lived in all of her life (except her time spent in the Lost Woods). She had never longed to escape from the forest, but now there seemed to an itch deep inside her that overwhelmed her and drew her out: to where, she did not know. There did not seem to be a change in pace in her life since the death of her husband.

Saria reached her house, feet exhausted. Sheik was sitting there at the table. "Well, are they coming?"

"Of course they are! Surprisingly, my own daughter listens to me," Saria chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't know anything about raising children. Link wants to wait a little longer," the disguised queen said.

"Do you want children?"

"Of course I do. What married woman doesn't? And we have to have children, we're _royalty_," she said the last word with a kind of disgust.

Saria kept prodding into the subject. "And if you don't have kids, what will you do then?"

"Link was actually thinking about preparing Aikoka for the position," Sheik said.

Saria's eyes went wide. "We are talking about the same person aren't we? Link would never do such a foolish thing. He has more brains than that. Not much more, we both know, but more none-the-less. Besides, Aikoka isn't a Hylian. You know the law Zelda."

"Aren't we a little testy today? Well, since Aikoka has been raised here, and will most likely soon become the son-in-law of one of the Great Sages, Link thought he would be an excellent candidate to succeed him."

"It just doesn't seem like something Link would do."

"Many would argue that he shouldn't have become king because of where he was raised."

"But he married in."

"Yes, but in the Hylian laws, that doesn't matter. This is why he doesn't care if Aikoka is from somewhere where else."

"Fine, you win. Now, I have to prepare for the meeting."

"Alright, see you there!" the queen turned and walked to the door, and switching to the "more manly" voice she uses when she is Sheik, she said, "And don't get yourself hurt!"

Saria shook her head. That had been a strange meeting with the queen of Hyrule. Usually they agreed on everything. Today, they seemed to argue, and Saria, for the first time, felt annoyed by the queen and her antics.

Aikoka and Saria walked towards the exit of Kokiri village holding hands. Mido, a "friend" of Saria and Link since childhood greeted them from his hut. He was pulling weeds; He had given up on hiring people long ago. They stopped on the bridge for a moment to look down onto the forest floor and then followed the winding path out of the forest and started on the path toward the castle market.

"Let's go look at the water!" Aikoka said, easily distracted as he dragged Sakaratte behind him.

"We better not be late!" she scolded, but followed willingly. She didn't see the point of protesting to him anymore. (They seemed to have an unspoken truce-they would follow where the other leads without protest, but Sakaratte was a little borderline on the rule.)

The river sat peacefully as it always did. The other bank was the cause of interest. A team of suspicious figures had gathered-they looked like they might be from the desert.

Aikoka, wide-eyed, pulled her behind a rock that lined the closest bank. Sakaratte motioned for them to run, but Aikoka insisted on waiting it out. This was all done in hand gestures and expressions, but they got their points across okay.

They waited there for a while, but they soon heard the stepping of feet heading toward Zora's Domain.

Aikoka pulled Sakaratte with him as he ran the opposite direction. "What the hell was that?" he whispered to her.

"How should I know?" she replied in the same tone.

"Well . . . we should probably hurry to the castle . . . ." Aikoka dropped to the ground, a growing puddle of blood around him. Sakaratte ran toward the castle, every step she took made her feet feel heavier and heavier. Her thoughts slowly slipped away from the man she had just left dying on the ground in desperation. She jumped up onto the drawbridge and slid down it's rising planks; her head spinning; she hit the ground. She fell unconscious.

A.N.- Oooh . . . plot development!! Hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what could be fixed, not what is so great about it (but hearing a little bit of that is always nice .) Thanks for reading!!!


	6. Chapter Six

Sakaratte woke to see Zelda standing beside her bed. The Queen was wrapping herself in bandages. A mask, a few daggers, and a pair of blue boots lay scattered around her.

"Zelda?!?" Sakaratte exclaimed clumsily, her words mumbled and borderline incoherent.

"Ah, Sakaratte. I see the sleeping aid has worn off."

"But-but-but, that's Sheik's outfit!!!!" She attempted to yell, but it came out mumbled and sounded more like the incoherent mumblings of a drunk.

Zelda looked at her, a hint of pity touching the corners of her eyes. "Poor thing."

Confused, Sakaratte sat up and stared around the near empty room. She drew her eyes back onto Zelda, or Sheik . . . or was it Zelda? _What the hell is going on now!!!! I'm so confused!!!!!! _She thought as she gazed at her godmother.

"Umm . . . what's going on?" She asked in mock curiosity. Her inner being screamed a "What the hell is going on," but she managed to retain it.

"Well, Hyrule is under attack and . . . "

"I gathered that much, but why are you putting on Sheiks clothing?"

Zelda stared blankly back at her. "Are you really that dense?" she bluntly replied. "I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out yet . . . ." Nothing . . . "I'm _Sheik_!"

Sakaratte's eyes went wide. She managed to keep her jaw from dropping. "Are you shitting me???" she asked.

Zelda raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me!?"

"I said 'Are you shitting me?'"

"That's what I thought" she said as she continued to dress herself in bandages. "You will not say that again. And yes, I am Sheik. I've been doing this ever since Ganondorf was in power. I helped Link out when he was trying to find all of the medallions and defeat Ganon. "  
"Hold on. I know this may seem completely irrelevant, but why did you invite us to the palace for mid-day meal this morning?"

"I didn't." Zelda responded bluntly. "I have no idea what you're talking about either."

"You mean that you didn't invite us?"

"No, where would you have come up with such an idea?"

"Well, Saria told me that you did!!"

"Well, _Saria_ was wrong then. I never invited you to anything today." Zelda slid the mask over her face and tucked in her hair. "I have to go . . . important business to take cafe of."

"Wait!!!" Sakaratte jumped out of the bed and ran toward the door and slid out into the hallway. Zelda was nowhere in sight.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sheik raced down the path, his feet left no indentations on the ground behind him. Link and Impa stood at the gate.

"What took you so long?" Link asked her as she skidded to a stop.

"Well, I was foolish, and Sakaratte saw me changing."

"What?!" Impa exclaimed. "You did what?!"

"Calm down Impa . . . please?" Link said under Impa's cold stare.

"Stop it. It's irrelevant now, we need to get to work."

"Fine," Impa said. "I'll deal with you later."

Impa started off through the gate and out into the Hylian countryside. Zelda and Link cast quick glances at each other and vaulted after her.

The three of them came to a halt at the bank of Zora's River. Informants had told them that the main invasion had occurred at Zora's Domain. No Hylian forces had been sent in yet, but the army was preparing for battle.

Impa had scoured the hills for Aikoka, but no sign of him was found. The three had regrouped at the shore and prepared themselves for infiltration of the base. A few Zora's had managed to escape and bring details of the set-up of the rogue's new home.

Sheik, Link, and Impa swam across the river. Sheik and Impa managed to get across quickly, but Link was having a tad bit of difficulty. He finally managed to get to the other bank (by that time, Impa and Sheik had dried themselves). They set off through the only entrance into Zora's River.

The sound of rushing water overpowered the sound of their footsteps as the wandered through Zora's River. The place was in ruins, bridges that had been built to make accessing the Domain easier had been torn down, ladders destroyed, and the water seemed to be contaminated with human waste and blood.Footprints scattered the once smooth grass and gravel; there had been a lot of people going through the area a few hours before. A few weapons were scattered on the bed of the river, left by rogues who had run through the path. Zora corpses were strewn throughout the path, many of them were missing limbs and were still bleeding. None of them seemed to be alive still.

They waded through the shallow waters where the bridge used to be. Link used his longshot to reach the platform that was the entrance to Zora's Domain. They jumped across the gap and through the roaring waterfall. (A boulder near the top had slowed the falling water: obviously placed there by the rogues.)

The cavern was dark, most of the torch stands lay on the ground, their flames extinguished. The rogues had caused major devastation on the former home of the Zora's. Link gazed down into the water. Zora bodies were floating in the once clear water.

The unusual group of three walked slowly on through the cave. No rogues were found. Anywhere. They finally arrived in the throne room. The Zora King lay on the ground. A sword penetrating out through is chest. The water had washed the blood away, down toward the path, and eventually to the castle. Impa hurried to the King. She put a hand on his throat, feeling for a pulse. She waited . . . nothing.

"Is he . . . .?" Sheik asked, her voice weak.

Impa nodded, her face somber. Link jerked his thumb toward the path out, toward the home of the great whale, Jabu. They trotted lightly in the very shallow water, making sure not to make a sound. The reached the platform the Jabu usually faces. The whale was gone, he had probably swum off to some unknown location, and he will probably never be seen again. In his place, was the body of a Zora: mutilated. Impa used her magic to role the remains of the body over. Ruto's cold eyes stared back at them.

Sheik looked away, guarding her face from the face of her old friend. Link stared in astonishment at the girl he had once been engaged too. They looked up toward the Ice Cavern. A flickering light of fire was emitting from the cavern.

The platforms of ice had been destroyed. The remnants of the mini-icebergs floated in the below freezing water. There was no way to cross without a boat or raft of some sort. They were stranded.


End file.
